Counterspells, Magic Detection, and Dispelling

To be used as houserules or alternate class features

This one has been sitting in my drafts for a while. It is unfinished but I'm putting it out anyways because I likely won't finish it, and it might inspire someone.

Counterspells

'Counterspell' is not a spell in itself. It is a category of procedures applied to any given spell to make the spell simply not work. These can range from casting the opposite spell (Shatter vs. Mending, Fire vs. Water), to simply distraction (mundane or arcane), to stealing the energy of the spell. When a wizard or magically adept character sees a spell being cast, they can attempt a counterspell. Roll a contested check: on the countering side, d20+[Caster level]+[Spellcasting Score]; on the casting side, d20+[Caster level]+[Spellcasting Score]+[Spell Level]. The countering magician may use a spell to increase their bonus, adding the spell's level to the roll (or double the spells level for an opposite spell).

If the Caster wins, the spell prevails, and the counterspell possibly has a mishap. If the Counterer wins, they may consult the following table and choose one option in accordance with the difference in the rolls.

Difference	Effect
1	Deflect: The spell changes direction just before it reaches the target, up to 90 degrees
	Enfeeble: The spell falters, only producing half the effect
3	Distract: The caster makes a concentration check. If they fail, the spell wild-surges, explodes, mishaps, or dooms
	Rewind: The spell is returned to the caster, and any spell used to counter is also returned.
	Shatter: The spell splinters, dealing [spell level]d6 or [spell level] damage to its target
5	Negate: The spell does not work
	Awry: The spell has a different (but not opposite) effect. Fireball may become wind-ray, cure wounds becomes cured meats, etc.
7	Siphon*: The counterer absorbs the spell's energy, which may be stored in magic items or as spell slots
	Reverse: The spells effect reverses completely. Fireball becomes water-pseudosphere, cure wounds becomes cause wounds, etc.
	Reflect: The spell now targets the caster (or a random creature if it already targeted the caster)
9	Explode*: Choose a point on the spell's original trajectory. The spell explodes at that point, dealing [spell level]d6 damage in a [spell level]*5 ft. radius
	Doom*: The spell triggers a doom in the caster, or causes the worst possible mishap or wild magic surge.
11	Seal*: The caster can no longer cast magic for [spell level] (roll d[spell level]: 1. seconds 2. minutes 3. hours 4. days 5. weeks 6. months 7. years 8. decades 9. permanent)
	Steal*: The counterer learns the spell and the caster forgets the spell. As well, the counterer gains a temporary spell slot of the spell level.
	Unravel*: A wild-magic or null-magic zone is created around the caster
13	Death*: The caster is killed
	Magician's folly*: The caster is effected by a permanent effect, transfiguration, enchantment, or curse of the the counterer's choice, subject to DM discussion.

* these options also negate the spell

Magic Detection

Magic detection is, of course, not a spell either. Rather, it is a suite of tools, lore, mathematics, neuroses, and mutations that allow wizards to perceive the structure of spells, supernatural influences, and invisible creatures.

A knack will here mean a supernatural mutation, mnemonic device, or neurosis which may aid in detecting magic. A bauble is a physical tool such as a lens, crystal, or fetish which helps one do the same. Certain divination spells may also assist. Familiars may also help.

Knacks and Baubles have certain intended targets (e.g. fairy magic, divine magic, fire magic, etc.). Both have a 1 in 2 chance of positively identifying influences of that type, a 2 in 6 chance of positively identifying neutral magic, and a 1 in 4 chance of correctly detecting magic of a very different type. As well, both have a 1 in 6 false positive chance. Divination spells have a flat chance (1 in 4 for cantrips, 2 in 6 for 1-4 lvl, 1 in 2 for 5-7, 4 in 6 for 8-9. 1 in 10 false positive for cantrip-4th lvl, 1 in 20 for 5-9).

Knacks may be used quickly (in 1 round), but the use of a knack deals 1 wisdom damage and prompts a save vs. wizard eyes. Baubles take 1d6 rounds to find, set up, and use, but do not have any ill effects. Divination spells of course take a spell slot. Multiple tools may be used in succession, and this is recommended.

[Example: Algol the Hidden has 2 baubles and 1 knack: A quartz orb (detects wizardry), a sorcerer's mask (detects spirits), and a third eye (detects dark magic). While travelling, they encounters a man they suspect is a werewolf (he, in fact, is). They first examine with the mask (werewolves are acceptably close to spirits, 2 in 6). They looks through their mask and sees a fearsome, if ethereal, wolf form over the man! Or wait, maybe that's a trick of the light, or simply a wolf spirit, since it soon passes (in fact, it was a false positive and has no bearing on the man's nature). 

Algol, now unsure, looks through their quartz orb (werewolves are very different than wizards, 1 in 4). Nothing comes of this. Maybe he isn't a werewolf? Greatly concerned, Algol peers with their third eye (a discussion of whether werewolves are dark magic ensues. It is decided they are. Also, Algol suffers 1 Wis damage and makes their save for Wizard Eyes). Algol sees the stain of death on his teeth and the wicked claws of his true form! They were right! After a small skirmish, the man is justly imprisoned.]

Wizards begin with 2 baubles and 1 knack. Sorcerers and Warlocks begin with 2 knacks and 1 bauble. Knacks may be gained from magical deals, maddening texts, and certain potions. Baubles may be purchased from other wizards, crafted with special ingredients, or stolen. Some baubles may be used by mundane characters.

Some Baubles

1. Erratic Clock (Chronomancy)
2. Magician's Pendulum (Magic Items)
3. True Quicksilver (Necromancy)
4. Otherworldly Ring (Planar)
5. Elemental Barometer (Elemental)
6. Scope of Many Lenses (Wizardry)
7. Shamble (Witchcraft)
8. Phantasmagoric lantern (Illusion)

Dispelling

Technically, dispel magic is a spell. The spell is a brute force form of a more general principle: spells may be disrupted by altering the delicate but mundanely untouchable structure of a spell. This is easier and more graceful if the dispeller knows the workings and nature of a spell (found by magic detection or guessing)

How to Win the Dawn War: Outsiders

More 4e

Outsiders are spoilers by definition. Players, don't read.

Arcana DC 15

Outsiders are creatures that come from outside the world. Angels (of Pelora) are not outsiders. Devils (of Ashmadeva) are not outsiders. Gods are not outsiders. Outsiders are evil creatures like Demons or Elementals who desire to destroy the whole world. Angels fight against them.

Arcana DC 20

Outsiders are creatures that come from outside the world. Generally, there are two types: Astral Creatures and Elementals. Demons are a kind of elemental, arising out of the Abyss where Tharizdun is imprisoned. They tend to be more intelligent than most elementals of comparable power, so a lesser demon would be smarter than a lesser elemental, and an archdemon would be smarter than an archomental (also known as a Primordial). Elementals are pretty easy to fight, since you can just beat them up until they crumble into dust/ash/water/smoke.

[Digression]

Demonic Cults are not uncommon, though certainly less common than Diabolic cults. Said cultists are often revolutionaries, cowed servants of some pseudo-immanent archdemon, or the foolish rabble that buy into the latest Tharizdun-based Heresy. They are very big into sacrificing the innocent and immanentizing the eschaton, as you might expect. The more advanced cults don't tend to go for the whole "plunge the curvy dagger into the beating heart" thing, prefering a ritual which vaporizes the sacrifice, body and spirit.

[/Digression]

Or at least they are easy compared to creatures of the Astral Sea (also known as the Far Realm, the Deep Heavens, etc.). Just looking at one can make you go mad, and often they are intangible or otherwise resistant to beating up. For some reason, they tend to be considerably tentacular. They may be combated with the Cerulean Sign, an arcane glyph that can stun or even banish them.

Angels, that is, proper Angels, also called Outer Angels, Primordial Angels (not to be confused with Primordials), and Birds (if one is speaking cryptically) are mainly concerned with fighting Astral creatures, not Elementals, which is normally the job of gods and their servants. However, some gods have a working relationship with the angels, and are able to request things of them. Namely, Pelora, Avandros, Ioun, and the Raven Prince are said to be on good terms with them. No one knows who created the angels. Some theorize they arose spontaneously, a creative and benevolent primordial counterpart to the Elementals. Others believe they appeared when the first Demons did, for similar reasons. They are faceless, glow brightly, have wings, and cannot lie.

There are other outsiders. Many have been spirited to a strange city, known as Sigil, which lies outside our world, between the Elemental Chaos and the Astral Sea. Wizards say it is the only other world in which people can survive for any period of time. Its only native inhabitant is the Lady of Pain, a silent and imperious presence who occasionally deigns to punish interlopers. They say she hates the gods, if it may be said that she feels anything, but may sometimes tolerate humanity.

Arcana DC 25

Outsiders are creatures arising from outside the world. Generally, there are three types: Astral Creatures, Elementals, and Angels.

Astral Creatures, also known as Stars or Elder gods are beings from the Astral Sea. They are creatures of thought and creativity far beyond what humans, or even gods, are capable of. They lie in contrast with the Elementals, beings of matter and destruction, though of course the Elder Gods have bodies (of a sort) and the Elementals have minds (of a sort). He Who Was, if Ioun is telling the truth, was an elder god, inventing by some eldritch process the many and varied concepts of our world. Ioun is one as well, and some hypothesize that Tharizdun might be one. Experience tells us that there are elder things much less powerful than the gods, perhaps servants or offspring of the greater elder gods.

The danger of the elder things is not mainly in their power, however. Just as He Who Was invented concepts like good and evil, colors and sounds, the elder gods invent concepts just as basic, just as obvious, yet totally alien. Further, in the words of Ioun, "The people of the starry city like to use fashion to express themselves". The appearance of even the lowest elder thing perfectly communicates the alien ideas that can overwhelm a weak human psyche like kudzu. The common idea that they are mostly tentacles describes only the one's least likely to fry your brain.

The Stars are generally too far away to be seen in any detail, however. Only with a powerful telescope is one in danger from the very nearest stars: Hadar, Delban, Gibbeth, and the rest. Light, almost a synonym of existence, appears to be one of the fundemental concepts of even the astral sea. Thus, all living stars shine with the light of their hyperreality. The stars, it is said, bring fevered dreams on moonless nights, which are blessedly forgotten by morning.

Birds, also known as Angels, are a mysteriously benevolent type of outsider. They may fly anywhere, and may be found everywhere: the freezing darkness of the Astral Sea, the depths of the Abyss, the city of Sigil... Every bird is an angel. Many birds that you commonly see are very little and weak angels, but they are still angels*. Some of them are in fact greater angels in disguise. The physical forms of birds were made by the gods, to reduce the memetic effect of angels on the world, apparently at the angels' own request.

(*The exception to this is chickens, which are in fact a type of genetically engineered bat. Ashmadeva made them out of spiteful humor.)

Various types of lesser birds have especial agreements with certain gods. Doves help Pelora spread peace. Songbirds help Avandros to inspire artists. Owls observe and collect on behalf of Ioun. Ravens, obviously, work on behalf of the Raven Prince (this agreement actually precedes the Raven Prince's godhood, which is why he is named after them.)

It was the Angels that developed the Cerulean Sign, in partnership with Ioun and the Lady of Pain. Its effect on astral creatures is something like a complex riddle, something like a legal document of protection, and something like pepper spray.

The Lady of Pain, is, of course, an elder god, just like He Who Was. Allegedly, she spoke with the Angels and asked them to defend the world. Sigil is her world, made after the death of He Who Was. Sigil is not the name she gave it (for she never speaks). It is the name people gave it, after the numerous heiroglyphics that cover the entire small world. It is also called the Stone Library, the City of Doors, the Maze, the Grey Market, and the Scarred World. The eponymous sigils are, apparently, fractal in nature: each "one" is made up of numerous smaller signs, and each cluster makes up a single discernable larger sign.

Commonly, wizards visit Sigil to study its glyphs and properties. However, to enter purposefully is much rarer than to enter by chance. Most of the people in Sigil entered by walking through an otherwise normal door, and will eventually exit the same way. If this is a purposeful act of the Lady, no one knows the reason.

Viewing the Lady of Pain does not have the same effect as viewing most elder gods. It has an effect, certainly (namely that, while viewing the Lady, it is impossible to recall seeing anything else. Some describe feeling like they were tortured for an eternity by the sight, but they are often none the worse for it). However, the ideas of the Lady were present at the beginning of the world, and are thus endemic to the human spirit. If He Who Was still lived, venture the scholars, then viewing Him would similarly have no maddening effect.

Next section is a major spoiler, and if my prospective players read it, the Lady will flay you.

Arcana DC 30

This is the heresy which all the gods detest

Tharizdun is called the chained god, and the father and mother of demons. To follow Ioun's example: When the Lady killed He Who Was, after his two sons emerged, his body became Tharizdun (who, perhaps, was god of Nothing). The children of He Who Was feared Tharizdun, or were ashamed, and he was banished, or imprisoned, or entombed in the Elemental Chaos. It was the dregs of this colossal impiety, this cosmic dishonor, that corrupted the Abyss and spawned the demons, not the evil of Tharizdun.

But the Angels fly even to the depths of the Abyss, and this is what the six-winged bird, the Angel of the chained god, has said: "He is returning."

"He has tested good and evil. He has tested war and peace. He has tested life and death. And He has found His answer.

He has spoken with Angels, and they have heard Him. He has spoken with Fire and Water, Air and Earth, and they have heard Him. He has spoken with His children, and they have not heard Him.

He is returning, and He shall end the War, and judge all things, and then shall go to the Eldest God and speak to Him a new thing, and there shall be no more Death. Let him who fears descend into His grave to speak and to strive. His fool is His herald, and shall reveal good and evil, and shall gather seven that He has lost. The great angel of the outer darkness shall watch the world until He comes. Let the Four, His sons and daughters, descend to meet Him before THE END."

World Axis, Axis World

A continuation of my Last Post where I had a bit of fun with the setting of Fourth Edition. Here's your basic as heck world map. Some notes:

• The Iron Mountains are the divine domain of Moradi and the great stronghold of the Dwarves, but they really just get everywhere. If there's a mountain, they are in it. If there isn't, there's probably still dwarves below somewhere.

• Deur, Amasca, and Sarbenne are known as the Three Kingdoms. They are all Peloran, and 4 of the Peloran heavens float around that general area. They always fight over who is the favorite. They each have one (1) town and one (1) castle.
  

• Mount Baneflame, they say, leads directly to hell. There's still dwarves in it. They are one of the things that prevents demons from invading the world.

• Pharis, Zebelli, and Vestrum are fantasy greek poleis. The free version of Inkarnate doesn't have greek stuff though.
  

• Kordland is self-explanatory and badass.

• Wug is a godless waste of a swamp. Can you guess what lives there.
  

• The Amethyst Citadel is the only heaven depicted because it stays in one spot, normally. It looks like the picture on the back of the player's hand book.

• Leviathan probably isn't that big.

• How large is everything? As large as I need it to be. If I need a trackless desert between the Wilderwood and Amasca, there it shall be. People who complain get smote.

• I have not taken names from any other source. If you see a name from some other piece of media, no you don't :).
  

• Dang I should have organized it by alignment.

Stay tuned for next post, where I'll make sub-deviantart quality anime visual references for the gods, or forget to and stop posting for four months.

How to Win the Dawn War

In my quest to become the Worst OSR Writer, I have decided to run a game of Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition. 4e was released in 2008. That's 16 years ago! Clearly it has passed into the realm of "Old School" gaming, and is due for a Renaissance. 4e presents a good ludonarrative resonance, I believe, for a specific type of game. It does very badly at simulating medieval fantasy life, but does a great job of simulating cartoons about simulations of medieval fantasy life; that is to say, I hypothesize it does a great job with Isekai anime.

I always liked the 4e gods ("The Dawn War Pantheon"), even if I did not, in my youth, enjoy 4e, as I said in my previous post, which I shall now entirely disregard. However, I noticed that there is an issue when constructing a 4e Isekai game: Your main churchy gods of good, Bahamut and Pelor, are gods. The JRPG standard dictates that your benevolent good guy church must worship a goddess, or several. So a gender-swap is needed (and fits perfectly to patterns exemplified in, for instance, the Fate series). This set off a cascade of thoughts that might make the Dawn War Pantheon more interestingly boring (boringly interesting?).

The Pelor you wanted

In honor of 4e, I've sectioned this post into Lore DCs, a much beloved 4e staple. If you are going to play in my 4e game, read DC 10 and DC 15 only, the rest is spoilers. Content Warning for Divine-Typical freakiness.

The Pelor you got

DC 10

There are ten gods that rule the world:

Pelora, goddess of the Sun; Bahamat, goddess of Justice; Avandros, god of Luck; Moradi, goddess of the Forge; Erathus, god of Law; Ioun, god of Knowledge; Kord, goddess of Strength; Melor, god of Nature; Sehanine, goddess of the Moon; and the Raven Prince, god of Death.

There are seven lords that rule hell:

Ashmadeva, goddess of Evil; Lolth, goddess of Darkness; Vecna, goddess of Secrets; Bane, goddess of Conquest; Torog, goddess of Torture; Zehira, goddess of Poisons; and Tiamut, god of Greed.

The seventeen gods fought in a war at the dawn of time against the primordials, beings of elemental chaos that would have destroyed the world. They won, and now the world exists, and the gods fight within it for the spirits of mortals. Each race has its own god, who made it. Moradi made the dwarves, Sehanine made the eladrin, Avandros made the fauns, Bahamat made the dragonborn, and Ashmadeva made the cursed Tieflings. No one knows who made humanity. Most people think it was probably Erathus, or Pelora, or Melor, or the Raven Prince.

Whatever the case, pretty well everyone except the dwarves and the dragonborn mixed up together and that where you get halflings and half-elves and elves (though, "true" elves are born from the mixing of Eladrin and Fauns specifically)

There are a few other things, like how the orcs have no god, and only worship their warlord, but that covers most of everything.

DC 15

There are eleven gods that rule the world:

Pelora, goddess of the Sun, Life, and Family. She is the mother of men and angels, the god of six heavens, and by far the most popular god in creation. She is worshiped by the Church of the Sun, which teaches good old fashioned values, like love, honesty, and the ruthless eradication of the undead, demons, and devils. She is a little picky that you worship her only, but she is still friendly with the other gods. If you do well in her service, she will bring you to one of the heavens, where you will enjoy countless delights. There are many demigods of Pelora, and many saints and angels in her service. She also has avatars abroad in many forms, as men and women of all ages. You may recognize them by their golden hair, golden eyes, and unearthly beauty.

Bahamat, goddess of Justice, Nobility, and Dragons. She is the mother of dragons and the dragonborn, the god of the seventh heaven, the platinum dragon. She is worshiped by the Adamantine Order, the greatest order of knights and paladins in the world. Bahamat encourages strict discipline and paragon goodness. She is the greatest enemy of evil and chaos. She lives in the Amethyst Citadel in the northernmost parts of the world. She is served by the good dragons, the dragons of gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, mercury, and lead. They say there is a secret to becoming a dragonborn, known only to the Adamantine Order.

Avandros, god of Luck, Travel, and Pleasure. He is the father of fauns and elves, king of the fairies, and the patron of adventurers. Of all the gods who are, according to popular canon, good, Avandros is the most fickle. He is married (for a certain, non-exclusive definition of married) to Sehanine. Avandros possesses no divine domain of his own, sharing Sehanine's. Most inns (and brothels) are temples of Avandros, started by great adventurers who decided to settle down. Avandros is more often served by warlocks than by clerics, and is, of course, one of the two original granters of the Fey Pact. He travels the world in many guises. Fauns and Satyrs are his demigods, mostly male, and he sired almost all of them himself.

Moradi, goddess of the Forge, Craft, and Loyalty. She is the mother of dwarves. This, contrary to popular belief, is not a literal statement. There are female dwarves besides Moradi, and they are very important, the matriarchs of the mines, but they are both hidden from outsiders and look very similar to male dwarves. Moradi was instrumental in laying the literal foundations of the world, using sheer strength and skill to form bedrock from primordial chaos. Despite this, she's mainly worshiped only by dwarves, and really doesn't mind. Dwarves are her perfect creation, the completed form of the prototype known as ants. Moradin invented many things, from swords to weaving, but she is very selfless, and gave most of her inventions to other gods. 

[Digression]

Mechanically, Eladrin and Fauns are identical, except Fauns get a bonus to Dex and must choose between Charisma and Intelligence, and get a +2 to Nature and Bluff. Demigods of Pelora are mechanically just humans

[/Digression]

These are the gods that are known to all as the gods of Good. There are seven gods that remain neutral:

Erathus, god of Law, Civilization, and Technology. He is father of men. His divine domain is Erathus, the One City. To all knowledge, he has only one demigod, Erathus Rex, god-king of Erathus. Unlike most demigods, he is apparently immortal. I don't need to type all this up, just imagine Solomon David from Kill Six Billion Demons. That's exactly what both Erathus and Erathus Rex look and act like. Erathus built the Inevitables to act as their servants.

Ioun, god of Knowledge, Prophecy, and the Stars. They are the god of wizards, and the wizard of gods. Before Ioun came, there were no wizards, only clerics and warlocks, but Ioun taught the secrets of arcane magic to men. Ioun was not originally a god. They were, originally, a star, but they fell to earth. Ioun has no demigods, and has only one avatar, in which they appear as a robed and shadowy mage with a strange inner light. Their domain is the Tower of Art, surrounded by the Academy of Stars, of which they are the often absent headmaster.

Melor, god of Nature, the Ocean, and Animals. He is the father of monsters and spirits, and made Lakal, the World Tree. His domain is pretty much everywhere that doesn't have another god squatting on it. Melor has two avatars: Behemoth and Leviathan. Almost nobody worships Melor, unless they want an earthquake or tsunami or something. Druids and other primal types worship his children, the Primal Spirits. These aren't demigods, they are godlings, the children of Melor and the World Tree. His demigods, which he does not hesitate to sire, are the monsters that plague men. It is his job to protect nature, which often means crushing humans.

Kord, goddess of Strength, Courage, and Storms. She is the mother of Barbarians. Melor used to have three avatars, until Kord killed Anzu, the thunderbird, and ate it.

Sehanine, goddess of the Moon, Illusions, and Love. She is the mother of Eladrin and Elves, queen of the fairies. Sehanine's domain is the Lambent Forest, also called the Forest of the Moon or Fairyland, a dark forest dotted with glowing crystals. It is the home of the Eladrin, her demigods, mostly female, along with the fauns and the fairies. Within this forest is Melliora, the City of the Elves. While eladrin and fauns are the demigods of Sehanine and Avandros respectively, and elves are the children of those two races, fairies are the children of Sehanine and Avandros with one another, godlings in their own right, and numerous. In the Lambent Forest, these creatures mix, and lines become very blurred.

The Raven Prince, god of Death and Winter. He has no children. He appears as a young, handsome man to those who are dying, and they offer him a last prayer. Only few gods are known to have the power to take the spirit after death: Pelor and Bahamat might take the spirit to be reincarnated in their heavens, while Ashmadeva might claim them for hell, and Ioun might request them for study. However, these are only temporary, and everyone goes to the Raven Prince in the end.

Gruumsh the one-eyed is the warlord of the orcs and goblins. She is, or was, also the goddess of slaughter, one of the gods of hell. The story goes like this:

"Gruumsh was never a genial goddess, and once insulted Avandros during the Dawn War. Avandros took his bow and put out her eye. To spite him, Gruumsh took some elves and fauns and tortured them, corrupting them into her perfect warriors. Thus began the wars of elves and orcs. Gruumsh was so enamored with her "creations" that she devoted all her focus to them. They were very simple: they wanted war, and bloodlust, and victory. Humans were much more complicated, and had scruples about hearing lamentations of women and such."
"Before she knew it, she was so surrounded with idiot worshipers that she became an idiot herself. Her avatars and their warbands began to fight each other for fun, and now she is so weak that she is barely a goddess, possessing one avatar, the immortal warlord of the orcs. When she gets enough power, she immediately makes another avatar to spread more war, but her avatars just end up fighting again. An embarrassment to hell, they exiled her to the Fields of Blood on the mortal world."

There are seven lords that rule hell:

Ashmadeva, goddess of Evil and Tyranny, the Commander of Hell. She is the mother of tieflings and devils, and rules the lowest and worst part of hell. She (or rather, her emissaries) makes deals with mortals, conscripting their souls for hell's army in exchange for power.

Lolth, goddess of Darkness and Spiders, the Governor of Hell. She is the mother of the drow and the driders, and rules the borders of hell and the underdark. The drow pay their tithes to hell in food, blood, gold, and captives.

Vecna, goddess of Secrets and Necromancy, the Scholar of Hell. She is the spiritual mother of liches, and rules the Necropolis of Knowledge. As everyone knows, her greatest servants are her hand and her eye.

Bane, goddess of Conquest and Strategy, the Captain of Hell. She rules the Slaughter Grounds. She was once a mortal student of Gruumsh before the warlord fell from grace, so to speak, but she has now surpassed her master in every way. Some warlords of the mortal world pay tribute to her.

Torog, goddess of Torture and Biomancy, the Sergent of Hell. She rules the Hell of Hooks and Nails, where she experiments on mortal spirits. She is the god of hell most likely to kidnap the living, and it is held that merely saying her name will draw her to you.

Zehira, goddess of Poison and Conspiracy, the Spymaster of Hell. She rules the Lake of Sulphur from atop her tower, and her children are the Yuan-ti.

Tiamut, god of Greed and Dragons, the Treasurer of Hell. He is the father of dragons, who took form when his seed spilled upon the elemental chaos. Bahamat is his child, but she and her children rebelled and redeemed herself from her birth.

[Digression]

Heaven and Hell and the other divine realms are, for the most part, physical locations in the world that you can totally get to. The seven heavens are 7 cloud palace paradises*. Hell is below the underdark.

*Actually, one of them is the Sun. Relatedly, the Lambent Forest is technically on the Moon, despite the fact that you can walk right into it.

[/Digression]

But there is one more god, neither of the earth nor of hell: Tharizdun, the traitor god, the elder eye, the father and mother of demons, the chained one. He was imprisoned in the elemental chaos for a crime committed in the Dawn War, and longs to be free to destroy the world. His progeny afflict the world, and even the devils fight against them.

Spoilers past this point

DC 20

The Dawn War never ended. How could it? The Elemental Chaos is simply too vast, at least three times the size of the world, if not infinite. If you go to the edge of the earth and look over, it is just seething entropy further than the horizon. The gods are still fighting. Perhaps not desperately, for chaos acts against itself as often as it attacks the world, but they are not at peace.

The Pelor you got :(

Pelora has not had so many demigods without reason. I mean, she is certainly a horny bastard, but there's a purpose when her avatars solicit sex after healing your cancer. She is making an army. On earth, her demigods become her clerics, or get nepotism'd into another priesthood. If they become powerful enough, she spirits them away to her heavens to serve her as warriors and consorts.

There are three things called angels: Angels with a capital A, faceless, ethereal, terrifying embodiments of primordial good, who occasionally serve gods; Archangels, the godling children of Pelora and other gods who shall remain unnamed, and the angels of Pelora, the children of the goddess and her own demigods. Of the last, there are three kinds: Archons, who lead armies and, ahem, produce more angels with the goddess; Seraphs, who do battle with the forces of chaos; and Cherubs, who are either too weak, too young, or too old to perform active service, and therefore tend heavenly orchards or herd golden sheep to feed the armies. Don't get it wrong, Pelora loves all of them, and loves all people in general. Even in her divine supersoldier program, everyone is cared for tenderly in a literal paradise. It's just, there's a war going on, you know?

Bahamat thinks this is repulsive. Firstly the incest, but secondly, copulating with lesser races? Disgusting! Sure, we should protect the mortals, but there are better ways of going about it! Take, for instance, her dragonborn, produced by directly improving upon humans, rather than sullying the divine blood. Put them in a stone egg, expose them to the sacred fires for about a year or so, and they come out as though they'd never known the weakness of flesh at all. Bahamat and Pelora, despite their public alliance, are bitter rivals, and think each other as wicked as any of those gods that dwell in the Pit.

Avandros, Sehanine, and their fairy children are a little more lackadaisical about the war. They'll sometimes pop into the elemental chaos themselves, but only for a bit of sport. According to the other gods, they've grown far too puckish to care, and if they have any sort of plan, they haven't let it slip yet. Allegedly, they've taken to collecting odd bits of sentiment: dreams, love stories, adventures, children...

Moradi is long dead, or at least missing. Some say she went the way of Gruumsh, pouring too much into or getting too little out of her people, the dwarves. Others say she sequestered herself within them, each dwarf containing a minuscule shard of her power. Whatever the case, her clerics seem to still function, but are restricted to dwarves and those who are strongly dwarvish. The dwarves still produce legendary artifacts, deep within their mountain citadels.

Erathus and Melor have, together, the strongest claim for the creation of humanity, the greatest weapon of the gods. The spirits of men are like seeds taking root in the desert, holding the world firm and slowly imparting fertility and law. At their deaths, the Raven Prince, who was once a man himself but was raised to godhood for the purpose, disintegrates their spirit, scattering it like seeds to take new root in the bodies of new mothers. The greatest spirits produce thousands of seeds, but are also powerful in themselves as warriors against chaos. For this reason, the Compact of Spirits was made, to preserve for a time the greatest spirits in the heavens or the hells.

(Avandros, who is the main source of this information since it occurred before the arrival of Ioun, says that Erathus and Melor made humans during a brief and tumultuous, but passionate, affair. He is probably lying.)

Kord, The Raven Prince, Vecna, and Bane are the four gods who were once human. When Kord killed Anzu, Melor promised to share a third of his domain with her on the condition that she never do that again. Bane was given Gruumsh's vacant position by Ashmadeva. Vecna was a student of Ioun, but stole from them the secret of godhood. The circumstances of the Raven Prince's ascension are a very well kept secret.

There is, however, a fifth who was "mortal", so to speak, and ascended to godhood: Lakal, the world tree, was a godling of peace and beauty born of Melor and Pelora. The story is obscure as to whether she became a god before becoming a tree, and whether becoming the world tree was a punishment or a privilege. Despite her being truly a divine being like any god, she cannot answer prayers or grant powers. Because she is a tree.

Ioun, as is commonly known, was indeed once a star. What is not commonly known is that the stars are the bright guises of the entities of the Astral Sea, also called the Far Realm, beings of dreadful and incomprehensible thought. As a star, they were known as Caiphon, Ulthar, or Yoharneth-Lahai. They were curious regarding the world, and the great elder gods exiled them into it for their curiosity. The great, radiant bulk of their body lies beneath the Academy of Stars, buried by leagues of earth. 

(Ioun, of course, allowed Vecna's ascension. When asked, they said "[She] is the most intelligent being in this world, by far. Except for me, of course. But you'll have to grow up sometime.")

As for Gruumsh, one might wonder: is there such a thing as a good orc? In a sense, there is. But it is very rare. The Fields of Blood, you see, are impenetrably cursed. The whole expanse is haunted by millions of furious orc ghosts. Even the Raven Prince can no longer handle them, as they are so numerous that he might have to devote a century to the task at the expense of the whole world. When an orc is born in the Fields of Blood, dozens of orc ghosts latch onto their weak spirit and hold on with terrifying vigor, propelling the orc throughout its life in pursuit of sheer bloodlust. It would take an Archangel of Pelora to exorcise a single orc, and that might expend their power for a week.

Orcs born outside the Fields of Blood are not thus possessed, and are known as Half-Orcs (lacking half of what makes an orc). Many are known to lead very decent, even heroic lives, and they often devote themselves to Bahamat, Avandros, or Kord.

The duties of Ashmadeva and the rest of the gods of hell are, I hope, by this point obvious. Hell is the front lines of the War. Ashmadeva is the commander of the armies of hell, and Bane is her captain and strategist. Vecna and Torog search out new secrets and create soldiers to bolster the army. Zehira ensures the politics of the world do not interfere with hell's goals, and Lolth manages the home front, so to speak. Tiamut finances and, of course, makes dragons, the elite artillery of hell. (That thing about his "seed" is a lie he tells to stupid warlocks to piss off his sister. He makes them the old fashioned way.)

Devils of Ashmadeva (analogous in many ways to the Angels of Pelora), of course, get loose from time to time and cause havoc, so the good gods send them back to hell where they belong. Even if the gods of the world and the gods of hell are on the same side, you may be assured that the gods of hell are Evil. They are, to be certain, not Evil for Evil's sake. They are evil because they have no qualms, no scruples about the lives of humans or each other. They are utterly merciless, and have neither the time nor the energy for "happiness". Torture makes the troops fight. The goal of hell is to make carving a bloody path through the infinite fire-acid-claustrophobia of the Elemental Chaos the easy way out.

[Digression]

What is a Deva? A Deva is a member of the exceedingly rare constructed race known as the Imdeva. They possess strange bodies and spirits that may reincarnate fully formed in the domain of their patron, though they lose a great part of their spirit in the process. They tend towards extremes of good and evil. They were invented by the Sisters, Ashmadeva and Pelodeva.

[/Digression]

Tharizdun is truly said to be the father and mother of demons. The lie of Tiamut is truth in his case. It is commonly said that Tharizdun was an evil god seduced (literally?) by the Elemental Chaos, and his seed, the demonseed, grew into the Abyss, a tumor of evil beneath hell. But some say that he descended into the Elemental Chaos for some other motive. Some believe he was a god of Mercy, and sought to end the dawn war. Others that he was a god of trickery, and sought to turn the enemy against itself (and some say he succeeded). Others say he was a god of both life and death, and the gods were jealous of his power. Whatever the case, when he descended, the gods imprisoned him, and now there is no doubt as to his hatred and madness. The gods are silent on the truth.

DC 25

Here is a children's story that Ioun tells to his favorite students:

"Once, there was a man. We shall call him He-Who-Was, it is as good a name as any. He-Who-Was lived in a great city of light and darkness, where there lived many strange people who thought strange thoughts you would never ever think of. He-Who-Was thought many strange thoughts too, but they are things you might think of. He loved, above all things, multiplicity, and contradiction, and wonders, and he thought of things like law and chaos, good and evil, trees and cities."

"It happened one day that he met a woman, who we shall call the Lady. She loved simplicity, and logic, and was very strict. He-Who-Was fell in love immediately, because he loved contradiction, and she thought of all the things he couldn't think of. If he thought of colors, she thought of greys. If he thought of a billion, she thought of one. The Lady, it happens, loved him too, for he was only one thing, even if there was so many things in him. And He-Who-Was decided that they should move out of the city, and build a little place, a cottage in the wild places, away from the strange ideas of the city. It would be a place where there would only be the two of them, and their ideas."

"The people in the city laughed at him, because he went to live in the wild places and did not listen to their ideas, and they still laugh at him today. The beasts in the wilderness hated him, because he did not stay in the city, and brought his strange ideas to invade the wild places. But his cottage was strong, and far from the city, and the two of them lived happily."

"In time, He-Who-Was and the Lady had two daughters, twins. The Lady was horrified, and angry, because she wanted only He-Who-Was. She wanted one, and now there were three. She wanted the two of them to live together, and now there were four. Before she could think, she struck her husband, and tore him straight in two. To her shock, out of him came two sons, leaving the shell of his body behind. She could stay no longer, for the cottage was too full now of children and regret. She fled away, and built herself another cottage, even smaller and apart."

"The children were alone, and forced to keep the cottage against the wild beasts and hide from the strange city-folk. But the Lady was not heartless (though she would not like my saying so). So she spoke with the birds and sent them to watch over the children until they were grown, to feed them and warn them. And so, to this day, the four children (though there are more now) live in the cottage with the birds, and fight, and hide, and try to grow up, and the Lady lives apart, though now she so longs for her husband that she allows a few to enter her house."

"I tell you all this so that you might someday grow up too. And you may trust that I know what happened, because I saw it all. But don't worry about this story, because it is almost all lies."

Loch made this

god this post is so long.

Dawn War Remix: Avandra

 

4e has a warm place in my heart, though when I played it I railed continually against it. The dawn war pantheon in particular I find to be so generic that they wrap back around to being interesting. Some other people on the glog server also noticed this, and have been making some interpretations of the gods into their more odd style. So I thought I might.

Many-Faced Avandra, Opener of Ways, is the god of the roads. She is an interloper among the gods. Many believe that she walked into heaven, though few can ever agree where she walked there from. Many people also believe that she walked straight back out. She is the god of the foreigner, merchant and refugee and army. And she is distinctly abroad. Put her on your encounter tables.

The Peregrine God is worshiped by pretty much everyone in a token way, but some dedicate themselves to her. They are called Way-Priests. Some maintain the roads themselves, other maintain wayside shrine-inns (one room is always reserved. Other rooms might be taken by travelers, fairies, and angels.), others parade idols for miles and miles. The most sacred sacrament of Avandra is the Seek. The seeker makes a sacrifice of blood, and declares what they must find, and thenceforth can have neither home nor death till they have found it. No one makes a Seek lightly, because all know the legends of the tortured ascetic heroes, awful monsters, and legendary questants that Seekers have become.

Some wizards say that the Seek is far older than Avandra, that it led to her godhood, and that she is still seeking something. Others say that Avandra was never a mortal, that she entered this world from some secret direction that no one has yet discovered, that she was something no one has yet named. Yet others say she was a god in a world that ended, and fled its destruction. She has heard all these rumors. They make her laugh.

d20 Masks of the Peregrine God

1. Albatross

2. Old Crone

3. Young Boy on his way to ADVENTURE

4. Wolf

5. Sword-distributing maiden

6. Way-Priest

7. Merchant with Unusual Wares

8. Kord (She thinks this is hilarious, and does a very bad impression)

9. Deer

10. Huntress with Deer Horns

11. Pervasive fog that gets you lost (in the right direction)

12. Will-o-wisp

13. Crossroads Idol (if you stick around it for long enough, she'll get tired and vanish)

14. Runaway Princess

15. Beggar

16. Talking Bird

17. Boisterous Ronin

18. Lost Child

19. Very Large Centipede

20. Unicorn and/or Pegasus

d6 Intentions

1. Mess with you. Following her advice makes any journey twice as long.

2. Bless you, if she thinks you'll need it, with some fairytale boon.

3. Walk and talk with you for a while.

4. Inform you of some nearby quest that she thinks needs taking care of.

5. Roleplay. She honestly just wants to hunt, or merchant, or adventure for a while.

6. Speed your journey up. Following her advice makes any journey half as long.

 We're gonna pretend this counts for the "Patrons: their source of power/wealth and their goals in using the party." GLoGtober prompt.

Fifth Fantasy, Rules and Setting Introduction

(open for full size)

(Posted for GLoGtober 2024 prompt: Anime Inspired Content)

For a while, I've been working on a game I call Fifth Fantasy. It's part of my lifelong love affair with the generic. It is my personal belief that generic fantasy can be quite as good as gonzo fantasy when pursued with a genuine love. The system, if you can bear it, is a hack of Fifth Edition D&D, though I think it has become almost unrecognizable. My rationale for doing this is simple: I should like to be able to call my games "D&D games" and mean it.

It is vaguely inspired by Zelda, Ni no Kuni, and various JRPGs that I've never played. Being, of course, the last person on earth to make a Ghibli-Zelda Heartbreaker, I have no pretensions of it being the best. It is merely mine. I have placed an emphasis on crafting and downtime, which I think to be almost novel and almost playable. The ruleset is not yet complete: I have yet to finish writing all the spells, and I plan to overhaul the Fighter. But I have a desire to release it as it stands.

Click on that little gif to see it.

Setting Primer

Thousands of years ago, men were not like they are now. Their lives were long, and they knew secret arts of magic and the sword that let them reshape the world as they saw fit. We now call those men gods, although they are all but forgotten to us.

500 years ago, the Dark Lord set up his domain in the north, inflicting tyranny and curses for 300 years, before being brought low by his own people in alliance with the people of the east.

100 years ago, the wizard Destrian the Sudden conquered the lands to the south of the central mountain. He built great monuments in order to increase his power, but was eventually exploded by Forthwind the First, Oswald LaMarque, Desdemona the Sorceress, and Clover the Thief. A brief power struggle with Destrian's general, Redmaine, led to the establishment of the Forthwind Kingdom. At this time, also, the Shadow Wizard Council was organized in the north.

50 years ago, Forthwind the First died, and was succeeded by his son. The dragon of the Darkmarsh retreated to his lair. Trade was established with the Eastern Forest.

5 years ago, the storm dragon Akryus came to the central mountains, and began gorging himself on the lightning energy left by Destrian.

1 year ago, the storm dragon began to (excrete? build? spawn?) legions of storm elementals and thundarmors, which thereafter began to decimate the north of the kingdom, and provoking the dragon of the Darkmarsh to wakefulness.

Now, King Forthwind II has declared that whosoever kills the storm dragon shall possess half the kingdom.

 

Fifth fantasy takes place in a world where a year is 4 months long, and a month is 15 days long. A kingdom might consist of 4 towns, and a town might consist of 4 buildings. The world is suffused with the elements of magic: Fire, Ice, Storm, Light, and Dark. These elements permeate into the very stones and bones, and those who are skilled can turn these into powerful weapons and tools. But these elements may also create monsters that menace the land. Therefore, adventurers must go forth into the wild places to protect the people and bring back riches.

The Five Kingdoms

The centermost kingdom, the frontier of the Great Forest, the great kingdom of Adventure, the Forthwind kingdom! Rural and ruined, it is a place of opportunity for all. The king is wise, but rather busy, and the prince is foolish. Dungeons are more common here than elsewhere, built by the old stormlord. Cuisine is wild game and farmed wheat.

Minaterno, the city of the sea, is the cultured port of the world, the crossroads of all places! Ruled by 5 noble families, or, more accurately, by their feuds and intrigues. Rivalry is here considered a form of romance, and cunning is a form of virtue. They love noodles, and harvest wild rice from the darkmarsh, and have a lot of spice.

The Black Axis, called the city of slaves, where shadows grow long and secrets are thick. Despite its nickname, slavery has long been illegal, and they practice a form of representative government, headed by the Shadow Wizard Council. The abundance of Dark aligned materials left by their ancient lord still provides the basis of their economy, and they have the greatest school for mages in the world. Their food is somewhat bland: Mushrooms, Potatoes, Eel, and Whale.

The Eastern Forest is a place dominated by serenity and beauty. This domination is literal: some enchantment seems to lie on the whole domain, and it is hard to break. Decisiveness is valued: To break the peace when necessary, with swiftness and grace. There is a different tradition of mages there, sorted into colors: Red, Blue, Black, White. Their queen is secluded always. They are vegetarian, eating leeks and beans.

The Islands of the Crimson Demons is a place that is suffused with magic and exceedingly dangerous. The eponymous Crimson Demons are the ancient and capricious clan of sorcerer-pirates that have been the only ones to effectively stake a claim on any of the islands, and they have only cleared a small village, ruled by the Elder Demon. They trade often with Minaterno, but rove far and raid occasionally. Culturally, they are similar to Minaterno, but with a greater love of spectacle and less regard for tradition.

 

Not RPG: Palm Sunday 2024

When comes that happy end, O Lord our God!
Your glory rains as blizzard-snow around!
Those feet that on the palms and nails have trod
shall tread the crystal crowns laid on the ground!

The city-song of triumph, loud, shall pale
before the angels sing the silent-song
and cloaks of many colors spread shall fail
below the snow-white tunics, cleansed of wrong

How shall this dirty spring of earth compare,
the dying blooms, e'en of the world in prime?
The glory of the coming summer where
We see the sun's orig'nal shine, sublime!

Have a happy (albeit snowy) Palm Sunday, everyone.